Hairbrush

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for removing a hair tangle is provided that moves the hair brush having a first bristle on a rotatable brush element through the hair above the tangle in a first direction, pivots the first bristle on the rotatable brush element about a pivotal axis of the brush in a second direction if the hair tangle is encountered by the bristle, moves a second bristle on the rotatable brush element through the hair below the tangle, and moves additional bristles to a side of the tangle in order to release the hair tangle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and is a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/114,508, filed on May 2, 2008, entitled“HAIRBRUSH,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to hairbrushes. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to hairbrushes havingrotatable bristles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hairbrushes are used for grooming and untangling hair. A conventionalhairbrush includes a handle portion and a bristled portion havingbristles thereon. The bristles may be generally on one side of thehairbrush or may be disposed about the periphery of the brush. Tangledhair is a common problem. The bristles are fixed on the brush and areused to untangle the hair as they move through the hair strands.Typically, a user moves the bristles through the hair strands until thebristles encounter a tangle. When a tangle is reached, the user may pullharder on the hair in hopes of untangling the hair. Alternatively, theuser may withdraw the bristles from the hair and reposition thehairbrush in the hair in an attempt to brush around the tangle to loosenthe hair. Brushing tangled hair can be painful and may cause hair lossbecause the bristles do not have any give when encountering a tangle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the presentinvention, wherein in one aspect an apparatus is provided that in someembodiments allows a set of bristles to rotate in a direction opposite adirection of brushing.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a brush for groominghair which has a brush body having a handle portion and a bristlecarrier portion. The bristle carrier portion has an outer periphery anddefines a longitudinal axis. A plurality of brush elements have aplurality of bristles mounted thereon and are moveably mounted on thebristle carrier portion. The plurality of bristles extend generallyradially outward from the longitudinal axis and the plurality of brushelements are arrayed generally longitudinally along a length of thebristle carrier portion. Each of the plurality of brush elements areconfigured to rotate independently from one another, and the pluralityof bristles are configured so that when one of the plurality of bristlesencounters a resistance from a hair, the respective brush element havingthe one of the plurality of bristles encountering the resistance willmove in an opposite direction of brushing thereby causing the one of theplurality of bristles encountering the resistance to move out ofengagement with the hair and another one of the bristles on therespective brush element to move into engagement with the hair at alocation spaced from the location of the hair with caused theresistance.

Another embodiment provides a method of removing a hair tangle with ahair brush containing bristles that includes moving the hair brushhaving a first bristle on a rotatable brush element through the hairabove the tangle in a first direction, pivoting the first bristle on therotatable brush element about a pivotal axis of the brush in a seconddirection if the hair tangle is encountered by the bristle, moving asecond bristle on the rotatable brush element through the hair below thetangle, and moving additional bristles to a side of the tangle in orderto release the hair tangle.

Yet another embodiment provides a brush body having a handle portion anda bristle carrier portion. The bristle carrier portion defines alongitudinal axis. A plurality of brush elements having a plurality ofbristles mounted thereon are moveably mounted on the bristle carrierportion. The plurality of bristles extend generally radially outwardfrom the longitudinal axis, and the plurality of brush elements arearrayed generally longitudinally along a length of the bristle carrierportion. Each of the plurality of brush elements are configured torotate independently from one another, and wherein the plurality ofbristles are configured so that when one of the plurality of bristlesencounters a resistance from a hair, the respective brush element havingthe one of the plurality of bristles encountering the resistance willmove in an opposite direction of brushing thereby causing the one of theplurality of bristles encountering the resistance to move out ofengagement with the hair and another one of the bristles on therespective brush element to move into engagement with the hair at alocation spaced from the location of the hair with caused theresistance. An adjusting mechanism is located within the handle portionand is operatively engaged with the plurality of brush elements toadjust a rotational resistance applied to the plurality of brushelements.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of theinvention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may bebetter understood, and in order that the present contribution to the artmay be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodimentsof the invention that will be described below and which will form thesubject matter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments inaddition to those described and of being practiced and carried out invarious ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology andterminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for thepurpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conceptionupon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a hairbrush according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the hairbrush of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded view of the hairbrush of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the hairbrush taken through the line4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of an embodiment of hair bristles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawingfigures, in which like reference numerals refer to like partsthroughout. An embodiment in accordance with the present inventionprovides an apparatus and method to brush hair more quickly, with lesspull, pain or hair loss than a conventional hairbrush.

FIG. 1 shows a hairbrush 10 for grooming hair that includes a brush body12 having a handle portion 14 configured to be gripped by a hand of aperson brushing hair and a bristle carrier portion 16 on which aplurality of brush elements 18 are mounted. The bristle carrier portion16 has an outer periphery and a generally longitudinally extending axisA′-A′ (shown in FIG. 1). The brush elements 18 are moveably mounted onthe bristle carrier portion 16 of the brush body 12 and provide aplurality of bristles 20. The bristles 20 extend generally radiallyoutwardly from the longitudinal axis of the bristle carrier portion 16and the bristles 20 are arrayed generally longitudinally along a lengthof the bristle carrier portion 16.

When the brush body 12 moves along a length of hair being brushed, thebristles 20 move through the hair being brushed. Movement of thebristles 20 combs the hair. When a moving bristle 20 encounters atangle, the tangle applies a force to the bristle 20 which resists themovement of the bristle 20 through the hair. Each brush element 18rotates independently about the periphery of the bristle carrier portion16. When a force above a predetermined magnitude is applied to a bristle20 by a tangle during a brushing motion, continued movement of the brushbody causes the one bristle 20 encountering the resistance to move outof engagement with the tangled hair at the location of the resistanceand causes another one of the bristles 20 on the particular brushelement 18 to move into engagement with the hair at a location spacedfrom the location of the tangled hair with caused the resistance.

The hairbrush 10 includes an adjusting mechanism 22 operatively engagedwith the plurality of brush elements 18 and constructed and arranged toadjust the resistance applied to the plurality of brush elements 18 toadjust the amount of force required to induce rotational movement of theplurality of brush elements 18 about the longitudinal axis of thebristle carrier portion 16. More specifically, the adjusting mechanism22 can increase or decrease the amount of force required to be appliedto each bristle 20 to rotate an individual bristle 20.

The construction of the hairbrush 10 can be appreciated from FIG. 3. Thehairbrush 10 includes a brush core 24 which may be an integral structureconstructed of a metal, a molded plastic, or of any other suitablematerial. The core 24 includes a bristle mounting section 26 and ahandle section 28. The bristle mounting section 26 includes a pair ofintegral ribs 30. The handle section 28 includes an end wall 32.

Each brush element 18 is an integral structure which may be constructedof any suitable material such as a metal or a molded plastic. Thebristles 20 are evenly spaced about a ring-shaped core structure 34 ofeach brush element 18. There may, for example, be 6 or 8 evenly spacedbristles 20 around the brush element 18. In addition, each bristle 20may be formed to include an enlarged end portion 35 at the tip toprotect the scalp. A wall section 36 is formed at the base of eachbristle 20 to strengthen the bristles 20. The wall section 36 is araised portion arranged at the base of each of the bristles 20 andlocated about the ring-shaped core structure 34.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, the ring-shaped core structure 34 maybe optionally configured to provided elasticity or flexibility to eachof the bristles 20. As shown in FIG. 5, a base of each bristle 20 may beconfigured with a generally wedge-shaped portion 37 to provide some giveto each of the bristles when they are pressed against the scalp. Thus,during a brushing motion, as the bristles 20 are placed against thescalp, the cushioning provided by the flexing bristles 20 reducesdiscomfort to the user.

The core structure 34 of each brush element 18 is mounted within a brushelement housing 38. Each housing 38 may be an integral structureconstructed of any suitable material such as a metal or a moldedplastic. Each housing 38 of each brush element 18 includes an innerrotation surface 40 and a series of slots 42. Each brush element 18 ismounted in a brush element housing 38. Each bristle 20 and theassociated wall section 36 extend through a slot 42. The wall sections36 are essentially flush with the exterior surface of the housing 38.Each brush element 18 and the associated brush element housing 38 ismounted on the bristle section 26 of the core 24. Each brush element 18is free to rotate about the core 24 in either rotational direction.

A series of spacer elements 44 are mounted to the body portion 12 of thehairbrush 10 and arranged along the body portion 12 adjacent to thebristle carrier portion 16 of the hairbrush 10. The spacer elements 44are disposed between the brush elements 18, and mounted to each side ofa brush element 18 on the section 26 of core 24. The spacer elements 44provide a flat and even surface against which the spacer elements 44 canengage a respective flat surface of the brush elements 18 and thehousing 38. The engagement of the flat surface of the spacer elements 44with the brush elements 18 allows for even and consistent pressure to beapplied to all of the brush elements 18, and for predictable andreliable frictional resistance to be applied to the brush elements 18.The spacer elements 44 may be an integral structure constructed of anysuitable material such as a metal or a molded plastic.

The spacer elements 44 are non-rotatable elements. The rotation of thespacer elements 44 is prevented by engagement between each spacer slot46 and a respective rib 30 on the core 24, for example. The spacerelements 44 completely isolate the rotational effect of the brushelements 18 so that the movement of one of the brush elements 18 has noeffect on any other of the brush elements 18. Thus, for a respectivespacer element 44 with a brush element 18 mounted to each side, therotation of the brush element 18 on one side does not cause the brushelement 18 on the other side to rotate.

Each spacer element 44 includes a central opening having a pair of slots46 and an outer perimeter wall section 48. The outer perimeter wallsection 48 of the spacer elements 44 define a recessed portion to eitherside of the spacer element 44 to receive and house the brush elementhousing 38. This arrangement between the spacer element 44 and the brushelement housing 38 serves at least in part to keep the components inalignment and to provide a seal between the brush elements 18 so thathair is not caught between the rotational brush elements 18.

A series of brush elements 18 and spacer elements 44 are mounted betweenan integral intermediate wall portion 50 formed on the core 24 and afree end 51 of the core 24. The length of the hairbrush 10 between theintermediate wall portion 50 formed on the core 24 and the free end 51may be about four inches in length, but may also be configured to beshorter or longer. One or more spacer elements are arranged along thebristle carrier portion adjacent to one or more of the brush elements18. The brush elements 18 and the spacer elements 44 are held on thecore 24 by an end cap 52 in the assembled hairbrush 10. The cap 52 heldin place by a threaded fastener 54. The fastener 54 threadedly engagesan internally threaded member 56 which is fixedly mounted in an end ofthe core 24. The cap 52 may be constructed of any suitable material suchas a metal or a plastic. The threaded member 56 may be a metal structureconstructed of any suitable material such as a brass.

The handle portion 14 is an elongated handle portion configured with agripping surface 58. The gripping surface 58 may be an ergonomicgripping surface. The handle portion 14 is comprised of a pair of handlehousing members 60, 62. The housing 60 has an opening 64. Each of thehandle housing members 60, 62 may be an integral structure constructedof any suitable material such as a metal or a molded plastic. A materialthat provides cushioning to a gripping hand may be provided on portionsof the handle housing members 60, 62. The handle housing members 60, 62are held together by threaded fasteners 64, but any other suitablemethod or construction may be used to hold the members 60, 62 together.The assembled handle housing members 60, 62 are mounted about section 28of the core 24. The core 24 is moveable in a longitudinal direction withrespect to the handle housing members 60, 62.

The adjusting mechanism 22 is disposed within the handle housing 60, 62.The adjusting mechanism 22 includes a thumb wheel 70, an externallythreaded shaft 72, an internally threaded spring engaging structure 74and a coil spring 76. The thumb wheel 70 is an integral structure whichmay be constructed of any suitable material such as a molded plastic ora metal. The threaded shaft 72 may be provided by a bolt having ahexagonal head 78 as in the illustrative embodiment. The spring engagingstructure 74 in the illustrative embodiment is comprised of an integralspring engaging member 80 and an internally threaded member 82. Themember 80 may be constructed of a molded plastic or any other suitablematerial. The threaded member 82 is fixedly secured within the springengaging member 80 and may be constructed of a suitable metal such as abrass.

The construction of the adjusting mechanism 22 can be appreciated fromFIG. 4. The thumb wheel 70 is mounted within the housing members 60, 62for bidirectional rotational movement. More specifically, and integralpost 84 in the thumb wheel 70 is supported by wall structures 86, 88 onthe respective handle housing members 60, 62. The hexagonal head 78 ofthreaded member 72 is held within a hexagonal-shaped recess 90 in thethumb wheel 70. The spring engaging structure 74 is threadedly engagedwith the shaft of the threaded member 72. The coil spring 76 is disposedbetween the spring engaging structure 74 and the back wall 32 of thecore 24. The thumb wheel 70 is accessible by a user through the opening64 in the handle housing member 60 of the assembled hairbrush 10. Thethumb wheel 70 and the shaft are aligned with the longitudinal axis ofthe hairbrush 10. Therefore, the thumb wheel 70 is rotatable about thelongitudinal axis of the body portion of the hairbrush 10.

Rotation of the thumb wheel 70 varies the resistance supplied to thehairbrush 10. To increase bristle resistance, the thumb wheel 70 isrotated in a direction to compress the coil spring 76. The coil spring76 exerts a force on the core 24 which tends to move the core 24 towardand into the handle housings 60, 62. This movement of the core 24 causesthe brush elements 18 and the spacer elements 44 to compress against oneanother which increases the force required to rotate the bristles 20about the core 24. Rotation of the thumb wheel 70 in the oppositedirection decreases the force required to rotate the bristles 20.Therefore, the adjusting mechanism 22 is configured to decrease orincrease the resistance between the spacer elements 44 and the brushelements 18.

Thus, it can be understood that the adjusting mechanism 22 is a thumbwheel 70 coupled to a biasing coil spring 76. It can also be understoodthat the adjusting mechanism 22 causes the core 24 to slide back andforth with respect to the housing members 60, 62. Therefore theadjusting mechanism may be considered to be a sliding mechanism in someembodiments of the invention. The adjusting mechanism 22 is configuredto press the spacer element 44 and one of the plurality of brushelements 18 together to increase a resistance between them. Theincreased resistance opposes the rotational movement of each of thebrush elements 18 about the longitudinal axis of the body portion of thehairbrush 10. It can also be understood that the adjusting mechanism 22is configured to press the plurality of brush elements 18 together toincrease a resistance between them. The increased resistance opposes therotational movement of the brush elements 18 about the longitudinal axisof the body portion of the hairbrush 10. Thus, the adjusting mechanism22 can also be rotated in an opposite direction to decrease or releasethe resistance. Thus, the adjusting mechanism 22 is configured toincrease or decrease the resistance between the brush elements 18.

When brushing hair with the hairbrush 10, the user grips the handleportion of the body portion of the hairbrush 10 and moves the bristles20 through the hair to be brushed. The bristles 20 of the brush elements18 that do not encounter sufficiently high resistance in the haircontinue to brush through the hair. If a brush element 18 encounters aresistance in the hair (for example, if the bristle encounters atangle), the bristle 20 is configured to rotate in a direction oppositethe brushing direction of the brushing motion to disengage from theresistance in the hair. Each brush element 18 rotates independently ofthe other brush elements 18 on the body portion of the hairbrush 10.Thus, the movement of one brush element 18 is not dependent on themovement of another one of the brush elements 18. Each brush element 18is free to move around the longitudinal axis of the brush 10, and thuscapable of rotating through any amount of angular rotation from 0degrees to more than 360 degrees. When one bristle 20 encounters atangle or other resistance while moving through the hair, the bristle 20that encounters the resistance rotates away from the tangle in adirection opposite the brushing direction. Another bristle 20 on thebrush element 18 simultaneously moves into the hair in a position spacedform the tangle. The outer perimeter wall section 48 of each spacerelement 44 overlaps the adjacent brush element 18 and prevents hair frombeing entangled between a spacer element 44 and a brush element 18during brushing.

The independent movement of the rotating brush elements 18 provides formaximum hair brushing efficiency because tangles can never impede thebrushing motion. Each bristle 20 of the brush elements 18 brushes hairat every possible location in the hair including above a tangle, to thesides of the tangle, and below the tangle, with a continuous brushingmotion. The rotating brush elements 18 also allow for maximum hairbrushing speed by significantly shortening the time it takes to brushthe hair.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from thedetailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claimsto cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fallwithin the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, sincenumerous modifications and variations will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to theexact construction and operation illustrated and described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the invention.

1. A method for removing a hair tangle with a hair brush, comprising thesteps of: moving the hair brush having a first bristle on a rotatablefirst brush element through the hair above the tangle in a firstdirection; pivoting the first bristle on the rotatable first brushelement about a pivotal axis of the brush in a second direction if thehair tangle is encountered by the first bristle; moving a second bristleon the rotatable first brush element through the hair below the tangle;and moving additional bristles to a side of the tangle in order torelease the hair tangle.
 2. The method according to claim 1 furthercomprising controlling the pivoting of the first and second bristles toenable the bristles to move more or less freely about the pivotal axis.3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the controlling step isperformed by adjusting a thumb wheel coupled to a biasing spring.
 4. Themethod according to claim 1 further rotating independently the firstbrush element and a second brush element from each other.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the first brush element is configured torotate through a range of angles up to and including over 360 degreeabout the pivotal axis of the brush.
 6. The method according to claim 1further comprising compressing the bristles toward the pivotal axis whenthe brush is pressed against a scalp.
 7. The method according to claim4, wherein the bristles are moveably mounted with respect to the brushelements so that when a force is applied to the bristles, a portion ofthe bristles retract into the brush elements.
 8. A brush for groominghair, comprising: a brush body having a handle portion and a bristlecarrier portion, wherein the bristle carrier portion includes alongitudinal axis; and a plurality of brush elements moveably mounted onthe bristle carrier portion and having a plurality of bristles mountedthereon, the plurality of bristles extending generally radially outwardfrom the plurality of brush elements and the plurality of brush elementsbeing arrayed generally along the longitudinal axis, wherein each of theplurality of brush elements is configured to rotate independently fromone another.
 9. The brush according to claim 8, wherein the plurality ofbristles is configured so that when one of the plurality of bristles onthe plurality of brush elements encounters a resistance from the hair,that respective brush element will move in an opposite direction ofbrushing thereby causing the one of the plurality of bristlesencountering the resistance to move out of engagement with the hair. 10.The brush according to claim 9, wherein another one of the bristles onthe respective brush element will move into engagement with the hair ata location spaced from the location of the hair which caused theresistance.
 11. The brush according to claim 8 further comprising anadjusting mechanism located within the handle portion and is operativelyengaged with the plurality of brush elements to adjust a rotationalresistance applied to the plurality of brush elements.
 12. The brushaccording to claim 11, wherein the rotational resistance is the amountof force that must be overcome in order to induce rotational movement ofthe plurality of brush elements about the longitudinal axis.
 13. Thebrush according to claim 8, further comprising a spacer element arrangedalong the bristle carrier portion and adjacent to a side of theplurality of brush elements.
 14. The brush according to claim 13,wherein the spacer element is a non-rotatable element.
 15. The brushaccording to claim 11, wherein the adjusting mechanism comprises a thumbwheel coupled to a biasing spring that moves a sliding mechanism. 16.The brush according to claim 15, wherein the sliding mechanism engagesthe plurality of brush elements and is configured to slide back andforth within the handle portion.
 17. The brush according to claim 11,wherein the adjusting mechanism is configured to press the spacerelement and the plurality of brush elements together to increase therotational resistance between them, wherein the increased rotationalresistance opposes the rotational movement of the plurality of brushelement about the longitudinal axis.
 18. The brush according to claim 8,wherein the bristles are configured to be movable towards thelongitudinal axis to a compressed state when the brush is pressedagainst a scalp.
 19. The brush according to claim 8, wherein thebristles of the brush elements that do not encounter the resistance inthe hair continue to brush through the hair and wherein the bristles areconfigured to be movable towards the longitudinal axis when the brush ispressed against a scalp.
 20. The brush according to claim 11, whereinthe adjusting mechanism is configured to decrease the rotationalresistance between the spacer element a plurality of the brush elements.